Shopify subscription products after migrating from WooCommerce (2026)
How to set up subscription and recurring payment products on Shopify after WooCommerce — Recharge vs Skio vs Bold Subscriptions comparison, migrating WooCommerce Subscriptions data, subscriber retention, and Shopify recurring billing setup.
WooCommerce Subscriptions (by WooThemes/Woo) is one of the most popular WooCommerce extensions — used for recurring product boxes, coffee subscriptions, consumables replenishment, and membership-style recurring purchases. Shopify does not have native subscription billing built into the core platform; it requires a dedicated subscription app. Migrating subscriptions requires both product setup and, more critically, subscriber data migration.
WooCommerce subscriptions ecosystem
Common WooCommerce subscription setups:
- WooCommerce Subscriptions: The main plugin. Handles billing intervals, renewal payments, subscriber management, and pause/cancel workflows.
- YITH WooCommerce Subscription: Alternative plugin with similar functionality.
- WooCommerce Memberships + Subscriptions: Combined for membership sites where content or pricing is unlocked by active subscription.
Shopify subscription apps
| App | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Recharge Subscriptions | High-volume subscription brands, complex bundles | $99/mo + 1.25% + 19¢ per transaction |
| Skio | Modern DTC brands, passwordless subscriber portal | $399/mo or 1% per transaction |
| Bold Subscriptions | Established brands migrating from WooCommerce Bold | $49.99/mo + 1% per transaction |
| Seal Subscriptions | Smaller stores, simple recurring products | Free / $4.95/mo+ |
| Appstle Subscriptions | Feature-rich at lower price point | Free / $10/mo+ |
For most stores migrating from WooCommerce Subscriptions, Recharge or Appstle are the most practical choices. Recharge has the best migration tooling for WooCommerce subscriber data; Appstle offers similar features at a fraction of the cost for smaller subscriber bases.
What needs to migrate
| Data | How to migrate |
|---|---|
| Active subscribers (email, product, billing interval) | Export from WooCommerce, import to subscription app |
| Payment methods (saved cards) | Cannot migrate — customers must re-enter payment details |
| Subscription status (active / paused / cancelled) | Import active subscriptions; paused/cancelled are lower priority |
| Next billing date | Import to preserve subscriber's expected next charge date |
| Subscriber discount | Recreate subscription discount rules in Shopify app |
The inability to migrate saved payment cards is the most significant challenge. Customers must re-enter their card details after migration. Communication strategy: send an email to all active subscribers explaining the migration, why they need to update their payment method, and by when — with a clear CTA to the subscriber portal.
Recharge migration from WooCommerce
Recharge has a documented migration path from WooCommerce:
- Export WooCommerce Subscriptions data as CSV (subscriber email, product, interval, next billing date, status)
- Install Recharge on the new Shopify store
- Create subscription products in Recharge matching your WooCommerce subscription products
- Import subscribers via Recharge's CSV import tool
- Customers receive email to add their payment method to the Recharge portal
- Set a deadline: subscriptions without payment method added by [date] will be cancelled
Subscription pricing and discounts
Common subscription pricing models on Shopify:
- Subscribe and save: One-time price vs subscription price (e.g. subscribe for 10–15% off). Most subscription apps support this natively. Configure discount percentage per product or globally.
- Subscription-only products: Products only available as subscriptions (subscription boxes, member-exclusive products). Achieve by hiding the one-time purchase option.
- Tiered subscription: Different box sizes/quantities at different price points (e.g. Small box £25/mo, Large box £45/mo). Use product variants for each tier.
Subscriber retention during migration
Subscription migrations have inherent churn risk — every subscriber who receives a "please update your payment details" email may simply not bother. Risk mitigation:
- Send the migration notice well before going live — give 2–4 weeks for subscribers to update
- Make the portal link prominent and the re-entry process as frictionless as possible
- Offer a small incentive (free gift, extra month) for subscribers who update on time
- Follow up non-responders with a reminder before their next billing date
- Accept that some churn is unavoidable — measure it and plan acquisition accordingly
Post-migration subscription checklist
- Subscription app installed and configured (Recharge, Appstle, or equivalent)
- Subscription products recreated with billing intervals and subscriber discounts
- Active subscribers exported from WooCommerce Subscriptions
- Subscribers imported to subscription app with next billing dates preserved
- Migration communication sent to all active subscribers explaining payment re-entry
- Subscriber portal tested — customers can pause, cancel, update address and payment
- Churn deadline set — subscriptions without updated payment method cancelled by [date]
- Post-migration subscriber count tracked against pre-migration baseline
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